Self-Portrait in a Cap and dark Cloak: Bust

Of this attractive small self-portrait, only five impressions of the first state and eleven of the second are known (including the present one). Even the earliest surviving state already shows additional work and the etching style of another hand, most likely Rembrandt's collaborator during the early 1630s, Jan van Vliet (1605 – 1668). Underneath van Vliet's deftly etched lines and shading lies undoubtedly a facial study by Rembrandt himself, executed in his own wispy, somewhat nervous and fleeting manner. Although their collaboration only lasted for a few years (see lot 27), it was not without consequence for Rembrandt as an etcher. Certainly from the early 1630 onwards, he began to etch more forcefully and aimed for greater contrast between light and shade - if not in all prints then certainly in many (see for example lots 5 & 6).
This print comes from the collection of Viscount Downe, whose first sale at Sotheby's in 1970 provided an early opportunity for Sam Josefowitz to acquire several of these rare and charming portraits of the artist as a young man.